New Jersey’s Great Swamp, Passaic River Focus of Upcoming Talks

Dr. Lee Pollock points to a number of
macroinvertebrate animals clinging to the
underside of a river rock. May 2010. Dr.
Pollock will present findings from his 2013
macroinvertebrate analysis of Great Swamp
streams at GSWA's Breakfast Briefing event
on May 20, 2014. Credit: Great Swamp
Watershed Association.

The Great Swamp Watershed Association (GSWA) is pleased to announce the schedule of appearances and topics for its Spring 2014 Breakfast Briefing Speakers Series.

GSWA created the Breakfast Briefing Series to help area residents stay informed about important environmental issues affecting their lives. Briefings take place early in the morning in order to minimize overlap with most traditional business hours. Presentations are kept brief; and coffee, tea, and a continental breakfast are always served free of charge. Unless noted otherwise, all briefings take place between 8:00 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. at GSWA’s headquarters located at 568 Tempe Wick Road in Morristown, NJ.

Support for GSWA’s Spring 2014 Breakfast Briefing Series comes from Investors Bank of Madison, located at 16 Waverly Place in Madison, NJ.

On Tuesday, March 11, Peter Coviello, of the Madison-based landscaping firm Coviello Brothers Horticultural Services, offers home owners some tips for growing a healthy and environmentally friendly lawn this spring. Drawing on his family’s 40 years of experience in the landscaping business, Peter will show how careful decision making about landscaping technique, lawn care products, and irrigation can build turf that is beautiful, easy and inexpensive to maintain, and less damaging to nearby rivers, lakes, and streams. An extensive discussion session will follow the presentation, so participants are encouraged to come prepared with their own questions about lawn care.

On Tuesday, April 8, David Kluesner, team leader for community affairs for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 2, will discuss his organization’s work on a plan to clean up the last eight miles of the Lower Passaic River. Sediments found along this stretch of river are contaminated with PCBs, dioxins, pesticides, mercury, and other hazardous substances that pose a serious threat to public health and wildlife populations. As EPA develops its plan, the agency will need to effectively address several important issues concerning urban water degradation, environmental justice, and legal compliance. This presentation will outline some of these issues; as well the important role community involvement will play in shaping EPA’s final decision making on cleanup activities along the Lower Passaic.

On Tuesday, May 20, Dr. Leland Pollock, Professor Emeritus of Biology at Drew University, will discuss findings from his 2013 study of bugs, worms, mollusks, and other small spineless creatures living in New Jersey’s Great Swamp Watershed region. Collectively referred to as macroinvertebrates, scientists observe changes in the populations of these aquatic creatures in order to measure the relative health and cleanliness of rivers, lakes, and streams. Dr. Pollock has studied macroinvertebrate wildlife in the streams of the Great Swamp for many years, and both the Great Swamp Watershed Association and the former Ten Towns Great Swamp Watershed Management Committee have used his data to inform short- and long-term environmental decision making. Conducted seven months following the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy, this year’s study conclusions may offer some interesting insights on the long-term environmental impact of that storm.

Please note that this presentation is offered free of charge to all and will take place at Kemmerer Library, located at 19 Blue Mill Road in New Vernon, New Jersey.  Kemmerer Library is in no way responsible for the content or views presented during this event.

On Tuesday, June 10, Tom Suro, an hydrologist and surface water specialist with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) New Jersey Water Science Center, will discuss his work on a pilot project designed to map inland flooding along the Passaic River Basin.  This presentation will offer important information about flooding and flood dynamics for all New Jersey residents living along the western and northern reaches of the Passaic River and its tributary streams.

For driving directions and additional details about each event, please visit GSWA at GreatSwamp.org.

Voluntary donations to GSWA are sincerely appreciated. If you are not a GSWA member, please consider making a donation of $10 per adult at the time of your registration. (Suggested donation amounts for non-member children and family groups are available online.)

Seating is limited, so advanced registration is strongly recommended. To register or receive additional information, please visit GreatSwamp.org or call (973) 538-3500 x22.

Volunteers Honored for Contributions to Environmental Nonprofit

Great Swamp Watershed Association presents awards for outstanding service in 2012-13.

The Great Swamp Watershed Association (GSWA) honored three area residents for their outstanding service as volunteers over the past year.  The announcements were made during the environmental organization’s annual Volunteer Appreciation Picnic on Tuesday, June 25.

Millington resident Bill Marshall was recognized for his contributions to GSWA’s water quality programs.  For the past two years, he has worked with the organization’s Stream Team to assist with the collection of scientific data from the five major streams of New Jersey’s Great Swamp.

Marshall has been instrumental in conducting scientific visual assessments of waterways, collecting water samples for chemical analysis, and, more recently, helping GSWA launch a monitoring program for waterborne bacteria.

Meyersville resident Ritchie Fullerton and Stirling resident Richard Desch were both recognized for their contributions to GSWA’s outreach and education programming.  Both honorees began their involvement in the organization through events sponsored jointly with Northern New Jersey Cachers (NNJC.org), a group dedicated to promoting the outdoor sport of geocaching statewide.

Fullerton and Desch provided critical support over the past year for two major efforts aimed at increasing awareness of the natural world in and around New Jersey’s Great Swamp.  GSWA’s Halloween-themed Spooky Swamp Walk—held on the 26 and 27 of October, 2012—introduced participants to the organization’s 53-acre, Conservation Management Area—a publicly accessible natural area and demonstration site for environmental restoration projects.  GSWA’s Great Swamp Scavenger Hunt, held on May 11, 2013, introduced a host of geocachers and many others to the sights and sounds of the larger 55-square-mile Great Swamp Watershed region by sending them out to explore outdoor destinations like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge and Morris County’s Great Swamp Outdoor Education Center in Chatham Township, NJ.

In appreciation of their contributions, GSWA presented all three honorees with appropriate swamp-related gifts.  Marshall received a copy of the National Audubon Society Field Guide to the Mid-Atlantic States which includes information about plants and wildlife commonly found in the Great Swamp. Fullerton and Desch each received a northern highbush blueberry shrub to plant at home.  The highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) is native to the eastern U.S. and commonly found in the Great Swamp region.

The Great Swamp Watershed Association sincerely thanks all of its 2012-13 volunteers for the excellent work they have done to protect the waters and the land of the Great Swamp Watershed we all love and share.  If you are interested in joining one GSWA’s environmental volunteer programs, please visit the organization online at GreatSwamp.org, or call 973-538-3500 for more information.

Accolades for Bernards High School Students Working Toward Cleaner Water

Advanced Placement projects benefit Great Swamp Watershed Association, win award from The Nature Conservancy

Bernards High School students in Karen DeTrolio’s AP Environmental Studies class made a big splash with their year-end projects this June.  Working in teams of 3 or 4, they examined their own relationships with water and turned their discoveries into practical information everyone can use to avoid pollution and conserve natural resources.

The 20 projects, which included everything from a review of the impact of common household chemicals on water supplies, to an explanation of the links between clean water and healthy wildlife, were developed in partnership with the Great Swamp Watershed Association (GSWA).

Dedicated to protecting the waters and the land of New Jersey’s 55-square-mile Great Swamp Watershed region, GSWA will incorporate the students’ work into the organization’s upcoming Watershed Friendly Homes program.  GSWA Director of Education and Outreach Hazel England worked with DeTrolio to design the classroom collaboration and provided guidance and support to students as their research progressed.

“GSWA was excited to initiate this project and collaborate with students from a school within the watershed,” said England.  “Their work will form a cornerstone for future outreach to residents in Bernardsville and the nine other towns of the Great Swamp Watershed as GSWA launches its new Watershed Friendly Homes program aimed at changing water use behavior in the region.”

Students were asked to present their final projects over the course of two days to an audience made up of their peers and several visiting environmental experts from GSWA and other local community groups.  Visiting experts were asked to assess each group’s presentation, and choose their favorites.

Awards for excellence went to four groups of students.  Seniors Lauren Thomann, Abby Parker, and Erin O’Brien chose to survey their peers and the surrounding Bernardsville community to learn more about local water use and what might keep people from engaging in more conservation-oriented behavior.

Senior Morgan Blain, senior Christian Torres, and junior Jon Carter explored the true cost of bottled water production and what it would take to convince consumers to replace boutique water brands with ordinary, clean tap water.

Seniors Bina Patel, Kathryn Levin, and Edi Lima ventured under the sink to discover more about the environmental effects of those household cleaning products we all use and wash down the drain when we are done with them.

Seniors Addie Clayton, Erin Doran, and Sophie Reddi documented the construction of a rain barrel they and their friends built from scratch.  Their double-barrel rainwater collection system, which cost $200 to construct, is already at work diverting rain from the roof of Bernards High School into a courtyard garden where it nourishes a multitude of watershed friendly native plants.

A fifth group, which included seniors Matt Whitlock, Katie Hildebrandt, and Till Rosscamp, went above and beyond their teacher’s requirements and submitted their project to The Nature Conservancy for consideration in the environmental organization’s Show Us Your H2O competition for school groups and civic organizations from New Jersey’s Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Morris, and Somerset Counties.  Structuring their research to meet stringent contest parameters, the trio created a presentation that carefully tracked the source of drinking water for the Borough of Bernardsville, and systematically analyzed the environmental risks facing that water supply.

Their hard work was repaid in full when they took top honors for their submission.  As a reward, Matt, Katie, and Till will be acknowledged for their integral role in the placement of a new rain garden that The Nature Conservancy of New Jersey will construct free of charge on the grounds of Bernards High.

“I am so pleased with the success of the project for both the GSWA and for my students,” said Bernards High teacher Karen DeTrolio.  “It provided my classes with a meaningful project-based learning experience, and the GSWA with the building blocks for their Watershed Friendly Homes program.  As a teacher, it was incredibly rewarding to watch my students apply what they learned throughout the year to a real-life situation.”

Congratulations to all of the participating Bernards H.S. students for a job well done.  Their work will appear online early this fall as part of GSWA’s Watershed Friendly Homes program.

Happy Earth Day from the Great Swamp Watershed Association!

istockphoto.com/pearleye

Earth Day 2013 is here! According to the Earth Day Network, more than a billion people in 192 countries are participating in related events around the globe.

Since this year's official observance falls on a Monday, most folks are probably spending the day at work. But, remember that April is often called "Earth Month" and this week is often called "Earth Week." Perhaps you marked Earth Day early at an event this past weekend or earlier in April.  Perhaps you're observing it in the days to come. When you get right down to it, any day is a good day for an Earth Day celebration!

Help GSWA keep this year's Earth Day spirit alive and kicking throughout May too! There are few ways you can help.

Volunteer

Why not become a GSWA volunteer?

There are two important volunteer opportunities coming up soon. On Sunday, May 5, Laura Kelm, our director of water quality programs, is looking for volunteers to help with our annual stream restoration project. This event, which is our version of a traditional Earth Day cleanup, will take place at Kitchell Pond in the heart of Morris County's Loantaka Brook Reservation. We will be building a new vegetated buffer around the pond that will work to curb the negative effects of  stormwater runnoff and erosion. Much of the work will center around planting native shrubs and plants that slow down stormwater flow and help absorb water into the ground. For more information about this event, visit https://greatswamp.ejoinme.org/Sp13StreamRest.

Sunday, May 19 is your opportunity to become a member of GSWA's Stream Team at our biannual stream assessment training for volunteers. Held twice a year (once in the fall and once in the spring), GSWA's visual assessment training teaches volunteers how to observe and record important scientific data about our local stream reaches, including information like stream depth, stream width, and the presence or absence of streambank erosion. Trained Stream Team members are in short supply, so please help us out by coming to this event. For more information about this hands-on, indoor-outdoor workshop, visit https://greatswamp.ejoinme.org/Sp13StreamAssess.

Learn

Take some time to educate yourself on an important environmental topic: climate change.

The Face of Climate Change is the theme that Earth Day Network—an international nonprofit that has been working to mobilize and diversify the environmental movement for many years—has given to Earth Day 2013. In celebration of that theme, GSWA has created a special event that will focus on climate change issues and how they will specifically affects those of us living here in northern New Jersey.

On Monday, May 13, GSWA, the Somerset County Park Commission, and the Passaic River Institute will convene a special panel discussion called "The Challenges of Climate Change and Building Resilient Communities." This event, which takes place at 7PM at the Somerset County Environmental Education Center in Basking Ridge, will feature a panel of climate change experts from Montclair State University. Topics for discussion will include everything from the documented rise in average temperatures in New Jersey, to the important, but often overlooked, role of human relationships in preparing for and recovering from severe climatic events. For more information about this public panel discussion, visit https://greatswamp.ejoinme.org/Sp13ClimatePanel.

Join

Become a GSWA member right now!

Make Earth Day your everyday by making a financial commitment to the only group solely dedicated to protecting the waters and land of the Great Swamp Watershed.

There are plenty of benefits for members: a biannual print newsletter that keeps you up-to-date on watershed happenings, a monthly eNewsletter that notifies you of important breaking environmental news, free participation in GSWA events and invitations to special get-togethers, and much more.

We need your help all year long! Click here to become a member right now.

Public Forum Will Focus On Local Community Response To Changing Climate, Worsening Weather

Multidisciplinary panel of experts from Montclair State University will share climate change perspectives at Somerset County Environmental Education Center, May 13.

A spate of unusual weather events, including hurricanes, flooding, drought, and unseasonable snowfalls, have focused New Jersey’s attention on the current and future consequences of global climate change.

While national debate in the U.S. lingers over abstract arguments about the existence or non-existence of global warming and other climate issues, local communities and individuals struggle to deal with new climate realities, such as the destruction wrought by Superstorm Sandy, frequent flooding along the Passaic River, and a wealth of predictions forecasting more and more-severe weather events.

Clearer information and a more complete message about the broad impact of ongoing climate change phenomena is needed if we expect ourselves to bounce back from intensifying natural disasters.  The need is critical if we expect our communities and our social institutions to effectively adapt to protect us as the natural world we live in continues to change.

The Great Swamp Watershed Association, Somerset County Park Commission, and Montclair State University’s Passaic River Institute, will work together this spring to help local communities build a base of knowledge aimed at responding to local climate change issues and locating resources for estimating future effects on our region.

On May 13, the groups will convene a public panel discussion at the Somerset County Environmental Education Center titled, “The Challenges of Climate Change and Building Resilient Communities.”

The panel of presenters will include climate change experts drawn from several different academic departments at Montclair State University, including the Department of Anthropology, the Department of Biology and Molecular Biology, the Department of Earth and Environmental Studies, and the School of Business.

Click here for a complete list of panelists.

Short, topical presentations from each expert will address a wide range of local concerns, including the documented rise in average temperatures in New Jersey, the unprecedented increase in public awareness of weather phenomena, the connection between land development and flooding in New Jersey, the public health implications of post-traumatic stress in the wake of natural disasters, climate-change best practices for the business community, and the important, but often overlooked, role of human relationships in preparing for and recovering from severe climatic events.

Panel moderator Dr. Meyin Wu, director of the Passaic River Institute and professor of Biology and Molecular Biology at MSU, will open the forum for public discussion and questions from the audience following the completion of presentations.

This event will begin at 7:00 p.m. and will conclude at or after 8:30 p.m.  The Somerset County Environmental Education Center is located at 190 Lord Stirling Road in Basking Ridge, NJ. Advanced registration is strongly recommended. Please register online at GreatSwamp.org, or call 973-538-3500 x22 to register by telephone.

Registration is free of charge, but voluntary donations are gratefully accepted.

Meet Renowned Attorney Jan Schlichtmann At Public Screening of "A Civil Action"

Great Swamp Watershed Association will show film, starring John Travolta, at Morris Cultural Center on March 22.

Morris Township, NJ—Jan Schlichtmann’s dogged pursuit of justice for families torn apart by environmental pollution nearly cost him his career. In the 1980s, the personal injury attorney took on a lawsuit that would have an extraordinary impact on the environmental movement in the U.S. The suit, Anderson v. Cryovac (or Woburn as is it more commonly known), pitted residents of the town of Woburn, Massachusetts, against two manufacturers, W.R. Grace and Beatrice Co., who allegedly discharged carcinogenic waste into Woburn’s water supply that eventually lead to the leukemia-related deaths of several local children.

The facts of the Woburn case, as well as the extraordinary expense incurred during prosecution, caught the attention of writer Jonathan Harr.  After numerous years of research, Harr turned Schlichtmann’s story and the story of the Woburn families into a work of nonfiction titled, A Civil Action. The book, which was published in 1995, garnered several prestigious nominations and awards, and was eventually turned into a major motion picture. In 1998, Academy-Award-nominee John Travolta was tapped to portray Schlichtmann in the theatrical version of A Civil Action, which opened to substantial critical acclaim. Co-star Robert Duvall would eventually win an Oscar for his supporting role in the film.

Although the plaintiffs never won their original case in court, the Woburn suit set a precedent for the use of environmental science research and testimony in the courtroom that has been replicated time and time again. This is the procedural mark Jan Schlichtmann has made on the legal landscape of the U.S., and the victory that has made him a significant figure in the environmental movement.

The Great Swamp Watershed Association will host a special evening of conversation and discussion with Mr. Schlichtmann on Thursday, March 22, at the Morris County Cultural Center located at 300 Mendham Road in Morris Township, NJ. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m., and a public screening of the film A Civil Action (115 minutes) will begin promptly at 7:00 p.m. After the screening Mr. Schlichtmann will answer questions about the Woburn case, his life during and after its prosecution, and the legal and advocacy projects he has undertaken in its aftermath, including the founding of the Legal Broadcast Network, the establishment of The Civil Action Center, and his mission to protect urban forests and shade trees from destruction.

Please join us for this very special event!

What:  Public screening of A Civil Action starring John Travolta and Robert Duvall

Where:  Morris County Cultural Center, 300 Mendham Rd., Morris Township, NJ

When:  Thursday, March 22, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 9:45 p.m.

Who:  Jan Schlichtmann, the personal injury and environmental attorney who inspired the film

Register:  Seating is limited. Please pre-register online at www.GreatSwamp.org/EventReg.htm. Attendees are asked to make a voluntary donation of $10 to cover costs associated with the event.

For more information, write to events@greatswamp.org or call GSWA at 973-538-3500.